


Everybody Wants to Rule the World

by madness_on_the_milano



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Feels, Gen, In Which Rocket and Nebula Have Lost Their Family And Cling To Each Other, Sad Nebula, sad Rocket
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-17
Updated: 2019-04-17
Packaged: 2020-01-06 12:52:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18388808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madness_on_the_milano/pseuds/madness_on_the_milano
Summary: Rocket and Nebula have lost everything...but they still have each other and that's something. Right?





	1. It's My Own Design

She knew disappointment all too well. She had felt it in herself for her failures as a child in training. She had seen it in the eyes of her father. Now she saw it in the eyes of the fox.

_'He's not a fox.'_

Gamora's voice swirled around her brain, around the few parts of it that were made of flesh and blood, rather than the metal and machinery that had betrayed her. She didn't know how she could tell the fox about Gamora. About Quill. About Drax. She thought of Mantis and her chest squeezed. She wasn't crying. She couldn't cry. In spite of her determination to keep her tears locked inside, something grated inside her throat, nothing to do with her multiple cybernetics. They were dead. They were all dead and it was up to her alone to tell the fox and - oh god. _Where was Gamora's son?_ "Where's Groot?"

There was no mistaking the resulting silence. The way his unusually dull brown eyes shone. "Gone."

_'You took everything from us.'_ Nebula internally seethed against her father. It would have been hard enough to tell Groot about his mother being murdered, about how his entire family had literally vanished into dust, but at least he would have had the fox and at least the fox would have had him. Instead the fox only had her. She swallowed. That logic meant that she had him, but as Thanos' daughter, she doubted she would be wanted by the fox.

"Nebula..."

She looked at the fox. She knew what he wanted to know. She sank on cold metal steps leading up to the building Stark had disappeared into long ago. "What?"

"Where are the others?"

She looked at the ground - smooth stone covered with a film of rain. "Rocket." She had never used his name before and he had never used hers, both preferring to needle each other with childish, pointless mockery. Now all the others were gone, she had no wish to lose the last remaining link she had to Gamora. The thought of her sister forced out a tear from her left eye and she flicked it away with a metal fingertip. "They're gone."

"Gone where?"

She looked at him. It was clear that he thought she had meant that the Guardians had gone to some planet to find a way to fix things. She didn't want to tell him, not least because she didn't want to admit it to herself. "Thanos."

"Who did he take?" Rocket asked.

Of all the trials, battles and struggles Nebula had faced, this was possibly the hardest. She looked into his eyes and willed herself the strength to tell him the truth. "They're all gone. Quill, Drax, Mantis. They're gone, Rocket."

She had expected anger, cursing, rage. Maybe even an attack. Instead, he stared at her, his eyes wide with surprise and grief. He almost staggered and appeared to limp to the same step she was sitting on. He rested his elbows on his knees and sat forward. Amazing. She had just told him all his friends were dead and he just wanted to sit next to her. He didn't look at her. Maybe he was shedding tears she couldn't see. He sat up, looking straight ahead. "You didn't mention Gamora."

Nebula closed her eyes tightly. She could see her sister behind her eyelids; Gamora when they had first met, all bright green skin, flowing hair and scars from modification surgery. Gamora when she was an adolescent and growing stronger each day. Gamora defying their father's wish for her to sit with him on the throne, while Nebula had yearned for the chance. Gamora receiving the love Nebula had learned she could never have. That had been the sister she'd hated. The sister she'd loved was kind, she was good, she was brave and she was loyal. And now she was dead. "Thanos needed a guide and sacrifice to find the Soul Stone and she was it. She died because of me." It was her fault. Finding Thanos was her choice, getting caught was her mistake. And now Gamora was dead. Half of the universe was gone. It was a miracle nobody else had figured it out yet, who was really to blame. "This is all because of me."

Rocket was as silent as she was. He didn't walk away as she had thought he might. His left arm moved and she thought nothing of it until she felt something leathery yet soft graze over the only hand she had that was of flesh, blood and bone.

She flicked her eyes in its direction. The fox was touching her, his contact minimal, letting her know that she could knock his hand away from hers...or she could accept it. Accept him. She turned her hand and felt his palm connect with her thumb and closed her fingers over his hand, feeling soft, small hairs beneath her fingertips. She closed her eyes. She still didn't know what he would say.

"It ain't your fault." Rocket said. The cool air misted his words, leaving behind brief proof that they had been spoken. "She would kick your ass if she heard you blame yourself."

Nebula hadn't been expecting that. She had been expecting anger. She had been expecting agreement. She had not been expecting tentative comfort and reassurance. Especially not from Rocket. "He used me because I was there-"

"No, no." Rocket shifted, turning his eyes on hers. "That's bullshit and you know it is. He used you _both._ Only difference is that you're still here."

"It shouldn't be me."

Rocket's hand tightened around her thumb. "Gamora wouldn't want you not to be."

Water filled Nebula's eyes. She closed them tightly until the threat of tears was gone. "She offered me a place with her and the others when we made amends." Including the fox. "I should have accepted."

Rocket was silent, his hand still in hers. Then, he said; "It's never too late." As her eyes locked onto his, he shrugged, almost helplessly. "Y'know, if you want."

Was it pity? Was he only doing it for Gamora? Nebula looked at her hand, still gripping the smaller one of the fox. No. Not pity. He wanted her company, maybe in the way that she wanted his. "Fine."

"Okay." Rocket's hold on her thumb relaxed, but he made no move to remove his hand and she found herself glad of it. "For the record, I'm glad you're here."


	2. It's My Own Remorse

He should have stayed with the Guardians. The thought crashed around his brain all through the night, taking in the sadly-spoken information as Nebula gave it. Gamora had died. Nebula was unsure as to how, exactly, but it had involved a shiny orange rock which Thanos had prized above even his favourite daughter. A sacrifice had been needed, that much was clear. Thanos would have spared Gamora, given even the smallest chance.

Now she was dead and everybody, including Rocket's own son, was gone too.

They were in a place called Manhattan which was part of the most famous city on Earth - New York. Quill had mentioned once that he'd been interested in the place as a kid. Part of Rocket wanted to find Missouri, do some kind of soul-searching, but he couldn't. He didn't want to see how many more Quills this world had lost. He didn't know what to do with himself. His mind felt like it was broken.

"Rocket."

For a moment, he forgot. He looked up expectantly, hoping to find Gamora standing before him to say that she had somehow survived, escaped Vormir and wanted to find and kill Thanos. It was not her. It was Nebula and she held something in her metal hand. "What do you want?"

"I found this on the ship." Nebula said and she held out the object she had gripped in her metal fingers.

Rocket took what she offered. It was the Zune with its miraculous playlist. He shook his head and tried to give it back to her, but she refused. "I can't have this."

"Suit yourself." Nebula said and she walked over to a large window overlooking the city.

"Why did you bring it to me?"

"On our phonecalls, I could hear you and Quill singing along to its sounds."

He had forgotten about those impromptu singalongs. He hadn't known that she could hear him and his ears flattened in embarrassment. He could see her smirking from a reflection in the glass and his ears went back up defensively. "He was singing. I was crying in pain because the sound made my ears hurt."

"Do you expect me to believe that?"

"No."

"Then don't bother trying to tell me lies." Nebula turned back from the window. "Everything left to remember them by is precious."

Rocket looked at Gamora's sword, hanging by Nebula's hip. She hadn't asked for it, but Rocket had known Gamora would have wanted Nebula to take care of it. He looked back at the Zune, placing it gently down on the glass coffee table. He knew all of the music on the thing, having heard all the songs dozens of times over the past four years. That was why he couldn't bear to hear it now. He didn't want to see the last song his family had listened to before they... "I don't want to remember what happened to them."

Nebula stepped forward. She gestured to the Zune. "I want to choose a song."

"You don't even like music."

"What makes you say that?"

Rocket looked at her metal hand doubtfully. "Do what you want, just don't scratch it."

"At least I don't have claws, fox." Nebula muttered and she picked up the Zune with her natural hand. It was a simple enough device to turn on and as she placed the Zune on the table, the song spilled out through the earbuds.

 _'Welcome to your life_  
_There's no turning back...'_

"Seriously? Of all the songs on there, you go for that one?"

Nebula leaned against the arm of the couch, her arms crossed over her midsection. "I haven't seen you mourn."

She'd mourned. He'd never seen her cry before and hadn't even known she could until that godawful night on the steps when she'd told him all about the other Guardians. They'd held onto each other until the sun had come up, at which point they had been found and asked to come inside. Him? It was blocked. "How's that your business?"

"Rocket." Nebula's voice was low and urgent. "I spent years hating my own sister because I didn't want to tell her the truth. Do not make that mistake."

"There's only one person I hate now."

Nebula clearly knew who. She nodded her head, her eyes on the Zune. "Promise me you won't try to find Thanos alone."

"Why the hell not?"

"You know why."

It was true, he did know why. Going up against Thanos alone would be a suicide mission. The Titan was unstoppable now. "I don't even know where he is."

Nebula watched the Zune for several seconds further. "I thought you'd be furious. I thought there'd be tears."

"I keep thinkin' that they'll come back."

"They won't." Nebula said softly. "They're not coming back."

Rocket paused the Zune. "I gotta get this back to the ship. That's where it belongs."

Nebula watched him gather it up and, as he walked away from her, he thought he could hear her sigh and whisper Gamora's name.

* * *

 

 He could smell them all as soon as he set foot on the Benatar. When he closed his eyes, he saw them. As soon as he opened them again, all he could see was darkness until his eyes adjusted. There were leaves on the floor, from Groot and he picked them up as he walked along, even though Quill wasn't there to scold Groot for not clearing them up himself. His foot pressed against something cold and circular - one of the hair beads Mantis had fallen in love with at a market years ago - and he picked that up too. The cockpit was a mess of jumbled metal where Nebula and Stark had desperately tried to fix up the Benatar so she could bring them to safety, but underneath the pilot seat was one of Drax's blankets from his homeworld. It was large, but he picked it up anyway, breathing in its smell, even though it also smelled of Stark and Nebula now. The familiarity of everything - Quill's Zune, Groot's leaves, Mantis' hair bead, Drax's blanket - weakened his knees and he sank to the floor. They were gone, they'd actually gone and they'd sworn they wouldn't do this to him. He closed his eyes again, breathing slowly. Just as he was wondering what the hell he was going to do now, something warm and careful touched his shoulder. He knew that touch. He knew this woman. "Gamora," he whispered and he turned his head to look up at her.  
It wasn't Gamora. It was Nebula. She looked over the items he was holding and wordlessly knelt beside him, her hand close to his. She kept looking at Mantis' hair bead, even though she had no hair to put it in. Rocket had seen that longing look in Quill's eyes for nearly five years. He knew why she stared at the proof of Mantis' existence so intently.

"Why did I have to lose everyone?" It wasn't a question anybody could answer, but he asked it all the same. "Losing Groot was bad enough, but...they're all gone." He had Nebula around, sure, but he was certain that she'd grow bored eventually, once she realised that he was not going to bring her sister back.

"Stark was telling me that he's part of a group called the Avengers."

"Yeah, I know about them. Some frickin' good Earth's Mightiest Heroes did."

Nebula ignored him. "They will want vengeance against Thanos. Like we do."

"I'm a Guardian." Rocket insisted. "What the hell would Quill say if I jumped ship?"

"Do you honestly think that he would want Thanos to get away with what he's done?"

"No."

"Then he would understand. If it was only him left, would he not do the same?"

"He would."

Nebula nodded, the light of Earth's only moon flashing off of the metal piece wrapped around her skull. "I want Thanos to pay. He needs to pay." She met his eyes and Rocket could see the anguish and love burning within her colourless eyes. "And you need something to fight for."

"I got you, don't I?"

Nebula half-smirked, but the expression wasn't mocking. "Yes. One person isn't much, fox. Quill, Drax, Groot, Mantis, Gamora...they need us to fight for them and if it means joining a larger team, so be it. But Thanos does not get to win."

Rocket handed Nebula the bead that had once belonged to Mantis. "So," he said after Nebula's fingers closed around the small circle. "How do we kill a Titan?" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seven days until Milano goes to see Endgame! I may or may not have other stories coming up, but this was based on that trailer with Rocket and Nebula holding hands on the steps. They might have lost most of their family, but at least they have each other!


End file.
